When The Sea Met Darkness
by shadowmeister
Summary: What do you get when you get a son of Thanatos, blessed by the big three and Kronos himself, and stick him in Camp Half-Blood with Percy and his friends, just as the next Great Prophecy starts brewing up? Yup, that's right. A hell of a lot of trouble.
1. New Arrivals

Percy didn't know why, but he felt extremely cautious.  
It was ever since the Giant War, after they had prevailed against Gaea. He remembered diving into Tatarus, holding hands with Annabeth.

He shivered. It was a miracle that he hadn't been driven completely insane, or at least reduced to pile of ash. A very lucky miracle. He had seen things that no one- human or demigod- should ever have to see. And even then he knew that he might have to sacrifice himself in order for him and his friends to close the Doors of Death once and for all.  
But he had to admit, out of all the people he didn't like; it was a pretty nice move to trick _Octavian _to close the Doors of Death from the other side. Promise that kid power and he'll take the offer. He smiled at the memory.

"Percy!' yelled a familiar voice.

Percy stopped and turned slowly around. He had been taking a walk by the river when he heard someone call his name. He looked at the person who called his name.

The person was definitely male, with an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, a green jacket and black backpack, and he wore no pants. His bare legs were furry and shaggy, with hooves for feet. He had a small goatee and a red Rasta cap with two small bumps poking out.  
Percy gasped.

"G-Grover?" he stammered.

Grover Underwood smiled and ran to hug his old friend.

"Per-r-r-cy!" he bleated. "It's been so long! What was it, like-?"

"Four months?"

That was exactly how long it had been- Percy hadn't seen Grover since he helped him fight Gaea in Greece, on the very peak of Mt. Olympus.

Percy and Grover kept talking, discussing how the nature spirits had stopped revolting against Grover and the other members of the Council of Cloven Elders, when a loud horn blew.

Grover frowned. "What's that for?'

"Chiron probably just wants to tell us something important," Percy replied.

"Let's go," said Grover nervously.

Percy frowned. Grover did _not _sound very calm and collected, the way the head member of the elder council (supposedly) should be. But he ended up letting it go.

"Yeah," Percy said. "And after that, we can go over to my cabin, huh?"

Percy and Grover reached the campfire site as the sun began to set, sending brilliant rays of orange, gold and red splitting across the sky.

Everyone was talking and asking questions and generally making a lot of noise until Chiron stamped his hoof on the ground three times. All the chatter died down.

"I have important news!" yelled Chiron. "Tonight, we have three new demigods arriving at camp."

Everyone immediately started to talk again, and Chiron was forced to stamp his hoof again.

"Silence! These demigods will be arriving late in the night, and the satyr travelling with them has sent word that a Cyclops is following them, but he is not sure yet. Even so, I would like you all to be well rested and alert, just in case."

Everyone murmured in agreement and a kid from the Ares cabin yelled out.

"Who's the satyr travelling with them?"

"Silas Thatcher," murmured Chiron.

The older demigods widened their eyes in surprise, and some of the younger ones frowned in confusion.

"Huh," said Grover. "Good old Silas."

"Um," said Percy, low enough so that only Grover could hear, "who is Silas Thatcher?"

Grover frowned at him in disbelief. "Dude, _the _Silas Thatcher. He's a member alongside me in the Elder Council."

"Oh," said Percy, feeling stupid. "But if he's such an important member, why is he out rallying demigods, and not taking care of things here, or helping nature spirits, like you were just a while ago?"

Grover shrugged. "Beats me. At the very least, I'd say that Silas is just trying to do what he does best. He's always liked helping demigods." Grover frowned. "Or maybe…" He shook his head. "Nah. It's probably nothing."

Percy felt uneasy. Grover felt nervous about something, and that was never a good sign. But he'd ask later.

"Go," said Chiron. "Rest up as much as you can. And don't be late for the campfire."

An hour later, Percy and Grover headed for the campfire. They were just about to dig into their meals when Percy saw a familiar face.

"Annabeth!" he yelled.

Annabeth smiled and ran over to her boyfriend. They kissed and talked about what had happened over the past year.

After dinner, Percy kissed Annabeth goodnight and headed back over to his cabin. Suddenly an image flashed into his mind. The last time he had done that, Hera had wiped his memories and sent him to Camp Jupiter.  
That didn't happen this time though. Percy walked in, straightened the Minotaur horn on his wall, then jumped into bed and slept.

"Percy!" whispered Grover. "Per-r-r-cy!"

"Huh?" said Percy, being awoken from his dreamless sleep. "Grover? What're you doing, man? It's like one in the morning."

"This is very important."

"What could be more important than my sleep?"

"You remember those three demigods Chiron was talking about? Well, they're here, and it's not pretty."

Percy groaned and sighed and got up. He put on his armor and walked out of his cabin. In the moonlight, he could see what Grover was wearing: armor made of tree bark and little leafy branches. He also had his reed pipes and his wooden club hanging at his side.

"Is this really that import-?" Percy started to say, but trailed off when he saw what was happening. There were half-bloods running amok, and the top of Camp Half-Blood, the entrance, was embroiled in fire.

"_That's_ what's so important."

And without a single word more, Grover and Percy ran up the hill.

Silas Thatcher huffed as he ran up to Half-Blood Hill. Had it really come to this? He had been hoping to get to camp with his three new half-bloods without any incidents, but _no_. The stupid Cyclops had to show up and ruin everything.

"Um," said Trevor Mullen, as he dodged an oncoming boulder, "Silas? I hate to interrupt the fun, but is this camp you've been talking about close?"

You could tell Trevor was a little weird just by looking at him. He wore trousers, a jacket, and he had hair like a porcupine's quills, all spiky and standing up, as if he had just been electrocuted.

Silas ran even faster and jumped. The ground where he'd been standing a moment ago cracked open as another boulder hit it, making a large crater.

"Oh yeah,' Silas replied. "It's just up this hill."

Silas heard more heavy breathing and looked to his left and saw Danielle Night running next to him. Danielle had brown-blonde hair, and was wearing tight blue jeans, boots, and a black sleeveless top with a dark hooded jacket.

Danielle cursed as she rolled to avoid a boulder that missed her by centimeters.

"Silas!" yelled Danielle angrily. "We need backup! Where the hell is Dante?"

"Calm your fiery ass down, woman! He said he would meet us here!"

As they got closer, Silas saw Peleus the dragon stand up and roar.

"Whoa, boy!" said Silas. "It's okay, we're all friends here!"

He was interrupted by a deep roar almost as loud as Peleus's. Silas turned slowly around and saw a huge Cyclops, easily twice his size, wearing nothing but an old loincloth and a worn leather satchel with huge boulders inside, his skin black with soot and glistening with sweat, huge muscles coiling underneath his skin.

"Okay," said Silas. "Everyone but that guy."

At that moment, Trevor and Danielle caught up to Silas.

"Hey Silas," said Trevor. "We got caught up- holy mother! Is that a _dragon_?"

Before Silas could answer, Peleus bellowed and hot white white-hot flames in every direction. Some landed on the Cyclops, but he just laughed.

Silas saw the others campers coming to help, with Chiron in the lead, but they couldn't reach them, as Peleus's flames had caught on the grass, blocking the campers on the other side. Silas heard some people yelling, _"Where's Percy? Someone find him, so he can put out these flames!"_

Peleus continued to blast the Cyclops with flames, but he laughed and threw a boulder into Peleus's belly. The dragon yelped and went down.

"Ha- ha!" yelled the Cyclops. "Is that all you have for me little heroes!? Come on, give me a real challenge!"

Silas looked around, seeing his two demigod friends there, but without the faintest idea of how to fight this thing, all those campers, so close yet unable to help, and the giant Cyclops slowly lumbering towards them.

"Oh, Hades," muttered Silas.

Then something strange happened.

Suddenly, all the shadows around them began to writhe- shadows from the trees, the flames, even the people. A small piece broke off every writhing shadow, collecting onto the ground in one swirling cloud. Then the shadows rose up off the ground, transforming from two-dimensional shapes to three-dimensional.  
The shadows swirled angrily, a misshapen blob at first, but then began to take shape. The shadows grew arms, legs, a chest, and eventually an entire body. Then the shadows exploded outwards, returning to their sources, revealing a young man in a crouch.

He looked to be around seventeen, and he was wearing black jeans, a dark jacket and a t-shirt with a single skull design on it. He had caramel skin and dark hair, but it was hard to tell because his hood was pulled up.

Dante Night smiled and stood up.

"You want a challenge?" he asked. "Okay, I'll give you one. Now please hold still while I rearrange your face."

He got into a battle stance. The Cyclops laughed and picked up another boulder. Dante simply held out his fist, as if he were holding something invisible. Shadows curled around his hand then went away, revealing a short sharp metal rod.

The Cyclops practically bellowed with laughter. "You're going fight with that? This'll only take a moment." He threw the boulder.

But, impossibly quickly, Dante thrust out the rod, the sharp end meeting the boulder and breaking it two.

Once the rubble cleared, everybody gasped. The rod Dante was holding had changed. It was no longer a rod, but a long sharp silver spear. Beautiful carvings decorated it, and Dante held it in a leather handle-grip. The bottom was simple, shaped like a thick needle, the top a different shape altogether. It looked an upside- down kite, the tip curling with shadows and crackling with electricity.

Only Chiron seemed unfazed by the change.

"As it is," said Dante, "I'm still pretty confident."

Just as the Cyclops reached into his satchel to bring out another boulder, Dante jumped and slashed off the handle. The bag fell to the ground, scattering the rocks inside everywhere.

The Cyclops snarled and threw off whatever was left of the bag. He cracked his fingers and readied himself, his huge muscles coiling like thick cords beneath his skin.

"I don't need rocks to win _this_ fight, half-blood."

The two opponents charged each other. The Cyclops ran with full force, but at the last possible moment, Dante stuck his spear into the ground, letting his momentum carry him up. He pulled his spear out of the ground as he flew, and landed easily on the Cyclops's back.

Before the Cyclops could react, Dante shoved his spear into the Cyclops's back, and jumped off as it were a diving board.

Dante landed in a roll and watched as electricity arced down his spear and into the Cyclops.  
The Cyclops screamed and slowly put his hand to the spear. He grabbed the spear and yanked it sharply out, tossing it behind him.

The Cyclops snarled as golden blood ran freely down his spine.

Dante considered his options. His spear was right there, but he couldn't get to it without the Cyclops getting in the way. The campers were there too, but they were stuck behind a short wall of fire.

Not many options. So he did what he was probably best at. He ran.

The Cyclops smelled victory and sprinted after him.

Dante ran fast, as fast as he could. Trees whipped past him. He ran for a tree, a large one shrouded in darkness.

He ran straight into the shadow of the tree and disappeared. The Cyclops was too late to stop, and ended up crashing into the tree, splintering it in half.

Dante fell out of the shadow of another tree, and started running towards his spear. His hood fell.

"_Shadow –walking. Best. Ability. Ever,_" he thought.

He ran and grabbed his spear, and saw the Cyclops sprinting towards him. He was covered in splinters and golden blood, bellowing in rage.

Dante didn't have the energy to run anymore. He gritted his teeth and concentrated. After a moment he could feel the metal of his spear shifting between his fingers. In four seconds, he was holding a large scythe.

Just as the Cyclops was about to hit him, Dante turned in a full circle and swung the scythe.

The Cyclops suddenly stopped and looked down. He saw the scythe buried in his bare chest to the handle.  
Dante twisted the handle and blood spurted from the scythe, causing the Cyclops to melt into yellow powder.

Dante turned. Everyone gasped. Now that hood was down, they could see his eyes. They were solid gold.

Dante saw the flames being doused by a boy with windswept hair and green eyes.

"Well," said Dante, feeling completely drained, "that went well."

And then he collapsed on the spot.


	2. Being Claimed

In Dante's dreams, things were never good.

The last time he had had a decent dream was when he was five, before… the incident.

He floated in his dreams, thinking of the battle he had just fought. He had just beaten a real-life _Cyclops. _Even for him, that was weird, but at the same time, it was pure adrenaline rush. Dante smiled.

Then he heard a cruel cold laugh.

Dante shouted out, but couldn't seem to locate the source of the voice.

"_Who's there?_" he yelled.

Cruel laughter again. It took Dante a while to realize that the voice was coming from all directions.

"_Foolish boy,_" the deep voice said. "_So innocent. So ignorant._"

Dante was scared out of his mind, but managed to shout out, "_Okay, buddy, I got two hard-ass fists with your name on them. So come out here and show yourself, you wuss._"

Suddenly everything rumbled. "_Do not toy with me,_" the voice chided. "_For I have come to warn you. Soon, you will be sent to defeat me, but you cannot. I am all seeing, all knowing. Nothing is hidden from me. I know you fear being cast out once they find out who you really are."_

Dante paled.

"_Oh yes,_" the voice said, "_you are worried that they will fear you, once they find out about your, ah, mixed heritage._"

"_I don't need to hear any of this stupid crap! Get out of my dream, you sick, rumbly, deep voiced psycho._"

More rumbling. "_You still do not understand, do you? I am offering you a chance to not merely survive, but rise above the restrictions of any mortal, god, titan or even my dear legacies, Gaea and Ouranos. I am offering you the chance at more power than you could imagine. You would be able to change the very fiber of reality with your thoughts, and who ever you wish to be returned from the dead to be with you, shall be there with you. And all you have to do is give me your word, and your loyalty._"

Dante laughed defiantly. "_Okay, bud, you had me at no restrictions, power, and reality changing superpowers, but you kinda lost me at loyalty._"

"_No matter. You will heed my words._"

"_We'll see about that._"

The laughter became louder than Dante had ever heard before.  
Suddenly, he saw two blazing crimson eyes, each as large as Dante's own body. Then there was a flash of red lightning and nothing but consuming darkness.

XXX

"Dante?" asked Danielle.

"Yup," said Dante. "I must be dreaming if I'm looking at such and ugly face."

Normally, Danielle would punch her annoying cousin at a comment like this. But she was so happy to hear him say _anything_; she sighed in relief and crushed him in a hug.

"Ow," said Dante eventually. "Crushing me. Ribs. Ribs gonna crack."

Danielle laughed and let go of Dante, then punched him.

Before Dante could protest, he saw Trevor burst in, along with Silas.

"Dante!" said Trevor. "You're alive!"

"Thanks for noticing. Man, that dream was trippy."

"What dream? Ah, never mind. You should see this place! It's freaking amazing! Silas showed me around."

"Silas?" asked Dante. "So this is where you live, huh?

"I've lived in many places, but I lived here the most," said Silas. "I consider it my home."

"Man, you should see the place!" Trevor exclaimed. "There's a climbing wall with lava, woods with monsters, and a _massive _warship. And the people! Man, the Hephaestus kids are building wizards, the Athena's are geniuses, and the Aphrodite girls are total _babes_! And don't even get me started on the _Naiads_ -"

"Thanks Trevor," said Dante, "but I think I'll check this place out on my own."

"You better get ready," said Danielle. "Dinner's about to start."

Dante noticed his cousin's eyes for the first time. They were red and puffy from crying. That was a very bad sign. Danielle almost never cried about anything.

"Yeah," said Dante. "Let's eat. I'm famished."

XXX

Even in his moment of weakness, Dante had to admit that the camp was pretty cool.

"This place," he said, as Silas led him to the dining pavilion, "is _incredible_."

"You should see New Rome," said a new voice. Dante turned and saw a boy with windswept hair and green eyes walking towards them, hands in his pockets. "It's practically twice the size of Camp Half-Blood."

"I know you," said Dante. "You're that guy from last night who was putting out all the fires that the dragon made."

The boy smiled and held out his hand. "Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon, Praetor of New Rome, pleased to meet you."

Dante shook Percy's hand. "Dante Night, Son of I'm-not-so-sure-yet, and recent Cyclops-killer, pleased to meet you too."

Percy laughed. "I saw your performance last night. It was pretty cool. Reminds me of my fight withthe Minotaur when I first came to camp."

Dante nearly choked. "I'm sorry, did you say _Minotaur_? No way had you fought that thing."

"Got the horn in my cabin to prove it." Percy frowned. "Hey, I saw you shadow-travel last night. Not every demigod can do that, especially demigods who don't know who their godly parents are."

Dante shrugged "I dunno. Hey, just out of curiosity, which demigods _can _use it?"

"We've only ever encountered one demigod who could do that," said Silas. "He was a child of the underworld."

Percy nodded. "Nico di Angelo. Son of Hades."

Dante hesitated. "So who d'you think my parent could be?"

"Honestly, Dante, I've got no idea. I'd say Hades, but you're what, seventeen? Having you seventeen years ago would break the truce between him and his brothers."

"But what about Nico? Wouldn't having him break the truce?"

"Technically, no. He spent the last seventy years frozen in time in a magic hotel."

Dante decided not to ask what Percy meant. He'd just get confused.

"So, uh, you got good eats at the campfire?"

"The best. You'll probably be claimed there tonight too. I'm surprised you haven't been claimed yet. That should've happened a long time ago."

Dante's heart raced. He would be claimed _tonight_? Sure, he knew a few people here, but once they found out who-or _what_- he was, they would probably cast him out. Kill him if he was unlucky.

"Uh, Percy," said Dante, "about that-,"

"I know you're nervous. Everyone is. But you'll get through it." With those words, he walked on to the campfire.

"Nervous is a serious understatement," muttered Dante, as he and Silas jogged after Percy.

XXX

When Dante saw the campfire, he almost forgot his troubles. There was food from every corner of the world; tacos, fries, hamburgers, pizza, and much more, and Dante wasn't going to not eat just because he was feeling down. In fact, he ate more than usual when he felt troubled.

Once he had loaded his plate with food, Dante was faced with the question that all demigods faced before they were claimed: finding a place to sit.

"Hey, Dante!" called Percy. "Come here! You can sit with us."

Dante sighed in relief and went over to Percy. He saw Trevor and Danielle already there. Danielle didn't have much on her plate, just a sandwich and some fries. Trevor, on the other hand, had every food on the menu piled on his plate ten centimeters high, and was shoveling food into his mouth at a rapid rate.

"Trevor, how the hell do you stay so thin?"

Trevor shrugged. "I don't know. Genetics?"

Dante plopped himself heavily on the stool opposite his friends, right next to Percy.

"Hey there, Seaweed Brain," said a new voice.

Dante turned and saw a blond girl walking towards them, a smile plastered on her face. She had grey stormy eyes. She sat down next to Percy and plastered a big kiss on his lips, which he returned gratefully.

Dante smiled, Danielle smirked and Trevor widened his eyes, his cheeks stuffed with food, as if he wanted to ask the new girl out.

Percy caught the others staring and broke off the kiss hastily.

"Um," he said, "guys, this is my girlfriend, uh what's your name again? You know how I'm always dating other girls 'cause I'm so cool and sexy-,"

He was cut off by Annabeth punching him in the shoulder with a frown.

"You gonna introduce me to your friends, Seaweed Brain?" she asked dangerously.

"Uh, yeah. Guys, this is my girlfriend-,"

"Annabeth Chase," Annabeth interrupted. She smiled and shook their hands. "I'm a daughter of Athena. You guys came in last night, didn't you?"

"Yup," said Danielle. "We, uh, dunno who our parents are. I'm Danielle, by the way. Danielle Night."

"But everyone calls her Ellie," Trevor said. That earned him a kick in the shin.

"And you are?" asked Annabeth.

"Trevor Mullen," Trevor said, rubbing his shin.

Dante tried not to meet this girl's eye. He had that feeling that something bad was going to happen. Either through her or to her, Dante couldn't decide which.

Annabeth's look turned to one of curiosity as she set her eyes upon Dante. "Hey, you're that kid who beat the Cyclops."

"Uh, yeah," said Dante. "My name's Dante Night."

Percy frowned. "Is it just me, or do you and Danielle have the same last name?"

"Nah, we do have the same surname. We're cousins."

"Okay," said Annabeth. "Hey, what was that weapon you were using last night, a spear of some sort, right?"

For some reason, Dante blushed as he reached into his jacket and pulled out the short metal rod resting there.

"It starts off like this," he explained, "but it can turn into a full-length spear if I just concentrate."

"But weren't you also using a scythe last night? Where did that come from?"

Dante hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure of how the spear works. I think it can transform into any weapon I've used before."

"You've fought with a scythe before?"

"Yup. I was eight. It was in a museum. This crazy snake lady started chasing me outta nowhere, when I-," he faltered. "Let's just say I was pretty lucky I killed that thing in the first place."

They kept talking, really getting to know each other, until Chiron came along in his full centaur form, and stamped his hoof to get everyone's attention.

"Is that really a centaur?" asked Danielle.

"Yeah," replied Percy, "that's Chiron, head of the whole camp."

"Demigods!" Chiron said. "As you know, we have had three new demigods come to camp last night, under very… distressing circumstances, and as such, I would like to call each of them, and their protector, up here now."

Hesitantly, Dante, Danielle, Trevor and Silas each went to centre of the pavilion, just in front of the blazing, comforting orange fire.

"As you know, these three almost died, and very well would have if it had not been for an excellently executed plan this previous night. And so, as a reward, I would like us each to scrape a little more than usual into the fire as tribute to the gods, so they may reveal who the parents of these children are."

"Not without us, you're not," said a new voice.

Everyone turned their heads to see the newcomers. Percy smiled and ran over.

He hugged them all, and Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank and Hazel returned the favor.

Everyone started speaking, and Chiron had to stamp again to be heard.

"Enough! While I am relieved to finally see our allies from Camp Jupiter here again, I think we should all get back to business."

"Well," called out someone from the back, "if they're not claimed, there is always room in the in the Big House!"

"Oh great," Annabeth muttered. "_This_ guy."

Dante heard what she said and followed the voice of the person who had called out. He saw a boy with stringy dark hair, a slightly pudgy face, and a big smile. He was very thin, and held a cruel, loathsome light in his eyes. Dante took an immediate dislike to him.

"Liam Brooks, while you're concern is appreciated," Chiron said lowly, (it was obvious that took no special liking to this demigod,), "you have no right to simply call-,"

"Oh, please, Chiron, we know they're not going to be claimed, just look at them! They're barely-,"

Liam was cut short by a loud bang behind Trevor. Everyone was staring at his head.

"What?" he asked. "Have I got a bug on my face?" He then saw a bright orange light illuminating everyone's faces. "Hey why're you all- holy crap!"

Holy crap indeed. Trevor saw a huge blacksmiths hammer wreathed in fire, its image floating over his head.

Chiron immediately bowed. "Hail, Trevor Mullen, Son of Hephaestus, god of the forges, Lord of Fire."

Everyone else followed Chiron's example and bowed.

"Well Liam," someone called, "that's one down, two to go."

Liam scowled as Dante began to panic. Any minute now he was going to be claimed, and then it would be over. No one would look at him in the same way ever again.

"Very well," said Liam, "the boy has been deemed a Son of Hephaestus, but there is still the beautiful rose to deal with."

Danielle gagged. "I'm sorry? Did you just call me a beautiful rose? I _know_ you didn't just do that."

Liam smiled in a way he must have thought irresistible. "And of course, she would need a place to sleep, and there are _many_ empty beds in the Hermes cabin, and one even next to _mine_-,"

There was more gasping. Danielle saw a large image of a helmet floating above her head,

Chiron bowed and everyone followed suit, even Liam, who wore an expression that read, _Oh, come on! Again?_

"Hail Danielle Night," said Chiron, "Daughter of Hades, god of the underworld, Keeper of Souls."

Everyone stood and looked at Dante expectantly.

"Well?" sneered Liam. "Get it over with."

"This guy's like the Octavian of Camp Half-Blood," Jason said.

"I heard that!"

Everyone waited for a few moments. When nothing happened, they looked away.

"Humph," said Liam. "Looks like he's not so-,"

Once again, everyone gasped, and Liam had an expression like, _Okay, you know what? I give up. Screw this!_

But Dante wasn't laughing. _Please,_ he thought, _please. Not now. Not yet._

But he knew it was too late. Above Dante's head was the image of a black scythe with a handle made of bones, dark fire swirling round it.

Chiron and the campers bowed to Dante for the first – and perhaps last- time.

"Hail Dante Night," Chiron said gravely, "Son of Thanatos, god of death, Lord of the Shadows.

XXX

Okay guys, that's it for now, as always, if you got any questions, just ask.  
WeAreYoungg, I shall answer your question next chapter, promise.  
Alright people, bye says the shadowmeister!


	3. The Next Great Prophecy

Everyone stared at Dante in awe. Only a few minutes passed, but to Dante, it felt like years. Unsurprisingly, it was Liam who spoke up first.

"But that-that's impossible! Thanatos is _death_! How could he possibly give life!?"

"It's not impossible," said a girl in a black shawl. She had red hair and green eyes. "In fact, it answers most of the questions that I've been facing right now."

"Psst," said Trevor, "Silas! Who's the dame in black?"

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," Silas replied. "Our oracle."

"Well, _Miss Dare,_" sneered Liam, as if it were the worst insult he could think of, "do explain to us, how this makes any sense in the slightest? And which questions are being answered?"

"It involves the next Great Prophecy," she said.

Everyone started to panic.

"People," said Rachel, "please! Let me explain. I entered the spirit of Delphi about a week ago, and she told me of the Great Prophecy. I was with Annabeth and Percy when his happened. It goes like this:

"_Children of Darkness, Fire, and Black Stone beware;  
the journey to the First One's Lair.  
Help, evil, guidance, and power shall be hailed,  
through the Last Seven, the Wood, the Ghost King, parentage, friends, and endless betrayal.  
And as that which was thought to be evil turns out to be right,  
all shall be decided in the final hour of the Night."_

"Children of Darkness, Fire, and Black Stone. That means Dante, Trevor and Danielle."

"Who's the First One?" asked Piper.

"The Last Seven," said Percy, "I think that means the seven demigods of the last Great Prophecy."

"The Wood," said Silas, "… does that also mean the wild? As in satyrs?"

"The Ghost King," said Hazel, "meaning my brother. Nico."

"If all this helps us to win," said Rachel, "we're not going to have an easy time. But one thing I am sure of: Dante, Danielle and Trevor are needed in this prophecy. Somehow, they're going to hail help and power."

"And evil," said Liam. "Isn't that what you said?"

Rachel hesitated. "Yes," she said finally, "but there's also-"

"Ha! See? And not to mention that line about endless betrayal. Can we really trust these… strangers?"

Trevor began to panic, because suddenly someone people started murmuring about how it was a big risk to keep these children around. To his surprise, it was Dante who spoke up.

"Whoa," he said, "back up, horndog. You say keeping us around is dangerous? What about those other lines about help and guidance? Personally, I think keeping us around is our best shot at beating this 'First One'. So, next time, I'd think a little before I speak if I were you. Because saying the wrong thing could really mess you up."

Liam opened his mouth to retort, and then seemed to notice Dante's eyes for the first time. He backed away frantically, yelling: "Golden eyes! He has golden eyes! The symbol of Kronos!"

Everyone looked at Dante's eyes. He felt very self-conscious. Some people who hadn't noticed yet started gasping. There was even a panicked scream. Then pandemonium broke out.

"Silence!" yelled Chiron. He stamped his hoof, but everyone was in too much of a panic to listen.

Then, suddenly, Jason flipped his coin up into the air, and a javelin landed in his hand. He held the lance up, and thunder rumbled. Lightning broke the sky, arcing down to the tip of Jason's weapon. Everybody screamed and went immediately silent.

"Everyone," said Jason, "Calm down."

"_Calm down?_" exclaimed Liam. "Are you insane? That symbolizes the power of Kronos! That's just screaming evil!"

"Enough!" yelled Chiron. "I'm sure Dante has a logical explanation for this –"

Dante panicked and figured that Chiron was going to make him explain, but was surprised when Chiron continued.

"- but that can wait till morning. Right now, I think it best that we all just –"

He was cut short by Rachel swooning and beginning to fall, but she was caught by two demigods and another placed her on a stool. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing green. Mist billowed from her mouth. She spoke in a raspy, tripled voice:

"_The Great Twelve shall go forth to the First One's servant, tall and pale,  
and through darkness the power of Oblivion will be hailed.  
Stone will shake, time shall stand still and fire will blaze,  
bringing about the beginning of one's chaotic days.  
The legacies of Poseidon and Thanatos must lead the way,  
for only together can the Sea and the Darkness bring the end of the Host's day.  
And as all light seems to fade from the den,  
the New Incarnation of Death shall rise again."_

Rachel eyes stopped glowing green as the green fog was sucked into her mouth like a snake. She shook her head and looked at everyone.

"What'd I miss?" she asked.

Everyone muttered and whispered until Liam spoke.

"A prophecy!? We must answer the call, quick! We need to clarify what is happening –"

"Liam," said Chiron, "enough. We will hold the meeting first thing in the morning, after a good night's sleep. Now, if someone could please show the new recruits to their cabins –"

"I'll find my own way," muttered Dante. He walked off, away from the fire, everyone clearing a large path for him.

Most of the looks on the people's faces when they looked at Dante were understandable: shock, fear, disbelief. Chiron looked at him with pity, Percy with comfort, Annabeth with slight curiosity, and Liam with a look of open loathing and hostility.

Dante walked into the dark alone, eyes and shadows trailing after him.

XXX

"GRRAAAHHH!" yelled Dante, clutching his head. "Stupid, stupid, stupid-ass death god had to claim me now!? That's just goddamn - perfect!"

Dante got so angry little volts of electricity flew from his body to the grass he was walking on, burning the neatly trimmed blades. Dante yelled some more and thunder started rumbling, lightning flashed and the river began to churn.  
Dante screamed in anger and kicked at the ground, his sneaker digging in deep. Dante ended up kicking a huge, chunky clump of dirt that flew ten meters into the river. Where the dirt should have just floated, the river reacted violently to Dante's anger and sent up a ten-foot tall wave that met the clump and broke it apart into thousands of little soil particles.

Eventually the violent weather stopped and Dante clutched his knees, panting in exhaustion.

Dante looked up to see Trevor and Danielle running towards him.

"Hey, Dante," said Trevor. "You didn't have to leave, man. They had s'mores when we started seeing this crazy-ass weather, and- wait. Was that _you_?"

When Dante didn't answer, Trevor continued. "Whoa, man, I knew you could do some high-voltage crap with the lightning, but that was a whole new level. Why'd ya do it?"

"I was… angry."

"You summoned lightning, wind, and water, basically disintegrated a huge piece of rock by kicking it ten meters into a river, all because you were _angry?_" exclaimed Danielle.

"Listen, guys, I know you're worried, but I'm seriously exhausted and want to be left alone for a little while."

"We are not going to let you handle all this on your own," growled Danielle. "And that's a statement, not a request, Night."

"Aw," said a new voice before Dante could protest against his cousin.

Dante turned to face the newcomer – no, _newcomers_.

The guy continued. "Well, if it isn't a little blacksmith, a weird underworld-child and a golden-eyed moron. A bunch of idiots I happen to know all too well."

Dante scowled and his eyes flashed in the moonlight. "Piss off," he said. "We don't know- or want to know- who you ugly spastics are."

The guy sneered, and Dante seemed to notice just how burly this guy was. He had eight more burly guys behind him, sneering as well. Dante's pre-fighting instincts began kicking in.

"You ugly piece of crap," said the guy. "You messed with my brother." He took out his sword. "And _no one_ messes with Liam without me pounding their faces in."

At the sight of the bronze sword, Danielle and Trevor backed off, but Dante held his ground.

"We don't want any trouble. Just back off and no one gets hurt."

One of the guys scowled. He threw a bronze dagger at Danielle impatiently. She moved just in time, so the knife didn't kill her, but it still landed a nasty cut across her cheek. Somehow, Trevor managed to catch the blade. Danielle cried out in pain and stumbled. Trevor dropped the dagger and steadied his friend.

Dante gritted his teeth in fury. "Alright. You want to play it like that? Fine. Have it your way."

Faster than anyone could follow, Dante pulled out the metal rod in his jacket and turned it into a full length silver spear. Liam's brother charged at Dante. Their blades clashed and shook the air.

"I'm going to call you Bob," Dante said, "since I don't really give a rat's ass who you are."

The guy snarled. Apparently Bob did not like his new name, because he came with an onslaught of relentless force.

Bob stabbed, but Dante parried, torqued, and whirled his spear at Bob. It whistled past his face, and Bob stumbled and fell to the ground. Dante planted a foot on his chest as he placed the spear tip under Bob's chin.

Dante's victory was short lived, however, as he felt a fist crunch into the side of his head. He fell to the ground as Bob's friends began to lash kicks into his stomach and back. He heard Trevor yell out his name. Suddenly, the kicks stopped, which Dante was grateful for, but a look up told him that his time was over. He saw Bob stalking towards him, dragging his celestial bronze sword.

Bob lifted the sword over his head, preparing to bring it down into Dante's chest.

But then everything seemed to slow down, and Dante saw the blade coming to meet his torso, and his arm snaked up, grabbing the blade with one hand. Time sped up again, and Dante's golden eyes flashed brightly. In the palm of Dante's right hand, gold light spread out. The sword seemed to age centuries in a matter of seconds between Dante's fingers.

The blade turned weak and rusty, and then turned to complete ash.

Bob stepped back, obviously surprised at the empty sword handle he was now holding.

"How did you –"

He didn't get to finish, because a bolt of lightning blasted into his chest, lifting him off his feet and depositing him on the ground once more. Dante turned his sore body and saw Jason Grace striding towards him, pointing a javelin at the boys.

"Enough," he said. "Leave, right now."

The other boys didn't fancy their chances, but Bob called out, "It's eight against one, son of Jupiter. You got no chance of winning."

"How about eight against seven?" called Percy.

He walked up to them, levitating the water from the river. Piper, Leo, Annabeth, Frank and Hazel strode up to them as well.

Bob paled, and then regained his composure. "You don't scare me –"

He was interrupted by Frank turning into an eight-hundred pound grizzly bear that roared so loud that the other burly boys ran of in a panic.

"Leave," said Piper. Her charmspeak rolled over Bob, who obeyed and left without another word.

"Thanks," said Dante. He tried to get up, but fell down again. He would've fallen flat on his face if Hazel hadn't caught his arm and helped him sit down on a large rock.

"Those dumbass sons of Ares," growled Percy. "Chiron will hear about this."

Dante looked at Trevor and Danielle and felt a wave of guilt wash over him. If he hadn't somehow stopped Bob from killing him, they probably would have gone on and killed his friends. If he hadn't somehow broken that sword… no, he refused to think about it.

_And then_ there was the question of how he had done it in the first place. He had asked Silas, and he had told him that celestial bronze was near unbreakable. The only time Dante had used that golden aging power before was at age five, when some guy had tried to kill him in a dark alley in the middle of the night. That power was horrifying. Dante had simply laid his hands on the man and he began to age extremely fast. In one and a half minutes he was just a pile of dust.  
But that wasn't the scary part. The scary part was that Dante had _enjoyed_ it.

"Hey," said Frank, now back in his human form, "how did you… you know… with the weather and the sword?"

"Yeah," said Percy with a frown. "I've never seen a demigod with that kind of power before."

"Mm hmm," said Hazel, "I've met Thanatos, and while I don't know that much about him, I'm pretty sure that any kid of his couldn't control the Big Three's elements." She paused. "How did you do that?"

Dante looked at all seven kids' faces, each of them uneasy and slightly alarmed, but all of them were worried about Dante. They had selflessly saved the world. If he couldn't trust them, he couldn't trust anybody. Dante looked at Danielle and Trevor. The guilt he had in his chest about telling them his secret was about to kill him. He had to tell them.

"Sit down," he said with a sigh. "This is gonna take a while."

XXX

"A few years ago," Dante said haltingly as everyone sat in a circle.

Trevor had grabbed some logs which Leo then set fire to, giving them all a small source of light and warmth in the cold night. The waves of the river churned under the moonlight, making everything seem peaceful. If only it were.

"A few years ago," Dante said again hesitantly, "Thanatos decided that things were getting tough, with so many people dying, and him being the only god of death. And things could get pretty annoying when you have to reap souls every three minutes in the world. So Thanatos decided to bring an end to it."

"What was his great plan?" Annabeth asked. "To chain himself up again so no one would die?"

"No. You see, all of the people, demigods and gods and mortals, took Thanatos for granted, but that was a big mistake. Without him around, things could get pretty messed up. So I guess he figured that the least he could do was lessen his workload."

"Why did he decide this so randomly?" asked Piper.

Dante hesitated. "This wasn't random," he said at last. "Thanatos had heard that the fates had decided o that Kronos would return, in all his fury, in just a few years."

"Kronos?" asked Danielle, who was looking much better now that Piper had applied some healing ointment to her cut cheek.

"The Titan Lord," explained Percy. "He was basically _the_ bad guy in the old ages. And a year or-so ago, he almost destroyed Olympus. Not a very friendly guy."

"You speak like you know him."

"I do. I'm the one who fought him."

Dante continued as Danielle widened her eyes in disbelief and awe.

"Anyway, Thanatos heard what was gonna happen, and he apparently figured out that he would be really busy when the actual Titan War started, so he… tried to make the job easier." Dante went quiet.

"Dante," said Jason, "what exactly does 'easier' mean?"

Dante bit his lip and continued reluctantly. "Thanatos had heard of what the gods did, by creating life. Prometheus was said to create man, Zeus basically bore Athena from his thoughts, and Hephaestus had kept making his crazy machines. The gods were constantly giving life, so Thanatos thought, 'Why can't I?'"

Everyone went quiet, undoubtedly hooked to every word that was coming out of Dante's mouth.

"So," said Dante, "my dear old daddy decided to make a new Death, a being of power that could do some of his work so it would be easier to do his own. But Thanatos failed. What he had made was incomplete. It… it wasn't fully alive." Dante paled.

"Dante?" asked Leo. "Are you okay, man?"

"Fine. As I was saying, this new Death wasn't exactly… alive. Thanatos knew he would need more power to make a fully functioning Death, and there were only three gods in existence who powerful enough to do something like that: the Big Three."

Everyone widened their eyes.

"But Thanatos knew that the Big Three wouldn't agree, so he got the help of a goddess they held in much higher regard: Nix."

"The goddess of Night?" asked Annabeth. "How did Thanatos get her to agree to that?"

"I don't know. I suppose they were friendly with each other or something like that. So Nix and Thanatos both asked Zeus, Poseidon and Hades for the power to make Thanatos's creation alive, but even with Nix as back up, the gods were still a little iffy about doing so. So Thanatos made a deal. He said that if they did what he asked, his creation would do each of them, including Nix, any one favor as long as it was within it's power. The gods couldn't help but agree. So they blessed this creation with their power, and it became fully alive."

"So then what? They all lived happily ever after?"

"No. There's more. You see, Thanatos had been around for a very, _very_, long time, and he knew all about the trickery of the gods. He knew that if they thought his creation was too dangerous, they would call upon the favor Thanatos promised them, and command said creation to die. So my good old dad came up with a plan. He… shaved off a little bit of the Big Three's power from his creation, and took the mortal ingenuity of a woman he was currently in love with, and put it there instead. And so, the creation took on a new name and became a demigod. And because the creation had the power of all three gods inside him, he was immune to almost everything each of the three threw at him. So it was one hell of a loophole. Thanatos visited that woman and his creation for a while. They were happy, but Zeus eventually found out and banned Thanatos from meeting either of them, because he was so angry that Death had tricked him. "

"But what does any of this have to do with how you made all the weather go nuts?"

Dante looked at them darkly. "When the creation was five, he had been given the blessing of Kronos while the Titan was still in the pit, so he could have a good host body."

When they just stared at him, Dante continued. "The name of the woman that Thanatos fell in love with, the one whose ingenuity he took and planted it in his creation: her name was Melissa Night."

Danielle gasped and everyone looked at her.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Trevor.

"Yeah," Danielle replied, "fine. It's just that the name Dante mentioned… that's my aunt's name. Dante's mom."

Everyone frowned and looked at Dante. Then the looks of confusion went away as they all realized what Danielle meant.

"The blessing of Kronos," said Jason, "I remember now. It was symbolized by golden eyes. Really rare."

"But that means that Dante is…" Hazel trailed off.

"That's right," muttered Dante. "I am that creation. I am Melissa Night's son. I'm the New Incarnation of Death."

XXX

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus in any way. (As much as I'd like to).  
WeAreYoungg, I hope Dante's little story answered your question.  
to redisawesome: thanks for following the story.  
okay everyone, I am probably working on the new chapter as you are reading this, so chapter four should be up soon.  
Everyone, please, leave reviews, I need it. Even flames, though I probably won't like them.  
Okay everyone, bye!


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